Tag

See also tag, tág, and tåg

German

Tag und Nacht — Day and night (3)

Ein siderischer Tag der Erde. — A sidereal day of the Earth. (4)

Reichstag (7)

Pronunciation

• IPA: [taːk]

• audio (Germany)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːk
• Hyphenation: Tag

Etymology 1

From Middle High German tag, tac, from Old High German tag, tac (attested since the 8th century); from Proto-Germanic *dagaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn, to be illuminated”)

Germanic Cognates include Old Saxon dag (> Low German Dag), Old Dutch dag (> Dutch dag, Afrikaans dag), Old English dæġ (> Modern English day), West Frisian dei, Old Norse dagr (> Icelandic dagur, Faroese dagur, Norwegian dag, Swedish dag, Danish dag) and Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌲𐍃 (dags).

Non-Germanic-Cognates include Albanian djeg (“to burn”), Latin foveo (“to warm, to nuture”), favilla (“cinders, ashes”), Ancient Greek τέφρα (tephra), Lithuanian dãgas (“hot season”), Russian жечь (žeč’, “to burn”), Sanskrit दहति (dahati, “to burn”).

Although they are similar regarding appearance and meaning, German Tag and Proto-Germanic *dagaz are not related to Latin diēs which derived from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- *dyew- (“to shine”) as older folk etymology suggested. See Latvian diena (“day”) and Sanskrit दिन (diná, “day”) for more.

Noun

Tag m (genitive Tags or Tages, plural Tage)

1. A day; any period of time that lasts 24 hours.
2. A day; the period from midnight to the following midnight.

   Der Tag fängt um Mitternacht an. — The day begins at midnight.

3. A day; the period between sunrise and sunset when one perceives daylight.

   Im Winter sind die Tage kürzer. — During the winter the days are shorter.

   Diese kurzen Tage verursachen Depressionen — These short days are causing feelings of depression.

   An den irdischen Polen dauert ein Tag sechs Monate — At the Earth's poles a day lasts about six months.

4. (astronomy) A day, the rotational period of a planet, moon or any celestial body (especially Earth).
5. The part of a day which one spends at work, school etc.

   Nun, wie war dein Tag? — Well, how was your day?

   Überstunden!? Was für ein Tag! — Overtime!? What a day!

6. (idiomatic) A period of an argument, a dispute or (in military senses) a fight.

   Der Tag gehört uns. Gut gemacht, Männer! — It's our day, now. Well done, men!

   Heute ist einfach nicht mein Tag. — It's just not my day.

   Der siegreiche Kampf entschied für sie den Tag. — Their victorious fight was decisive for the day.

7. (dated) A convention, a congress; survived in various compounds (cf. Reichstag or Landtag)

Declension

declension of Tag

	singular			plural
m gender	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Tag	die	Tage
genitive	eines	des	Tages, Tags	der	Tage
dative	einem	dem	Tag, Tage (archaic)	den	Tagen
accusative	einen	den	Tag	die	Tage

Usage notes

• The plural Tage has a special meaning ("menstruation").

Derived terms

terms formed using Tag (noun)

auf den Tag auf den Tag genau Geburtstag Jüngster Tag Ruhetag Schalttag Schöpfungstag Stichtag

Tagebau Tagebuch tagelang Tagelöhner Tageszeitung täglich Tagtraum Tag und Nacht

Related terms

• tagen

Descendants

• Hunsrik: taach

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of the greeting guten Tag (“good day”).

Interjection

Tag

1. (colloquial) hello; (good) day

---

Polish

Proper noun

Tag m

1. Tagus (river in Iberia)

Declension

    declension of Tag

	singular only
nominative	Tag
genitive	Tagu
dative	Tagowi
accusative	Tag
instrumental	Tagiem
locative	Tagu
vocative	Tagu